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The many voices of Paul Young
On their show a few weeks ago, Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball introduced a special guest appearance by Max Bygraves. Nothing out of the ordinary about that, until, as the orchestra struck up You Need Hands ‘Max’ walked on…in the form of chart-topping Paul Young, doing a very believable Max Bygraves impression!
Mimicking famous entertainers is one of Paul’s less publicised talents, but he told us all about it recently.
“It came about on tour, from when I was with the Q-Tips. Travelling around the country meant hearing the different regional accents, and slipping into them for a bit of fun. Also, the boredom on the coach was so much that we all used to do impressions of each other, people we knew and famous people just to pass the time.
“I was really surprised when I was asked to do an impersonation on television, and a bit nervous, but as I really wanted to be on Cannon and Ball I couldn’t very well refuse!
“Cannon and Ball has seen a video – a home movie really – that the group and I had made for someone’s leaving party. In it we all did a ‘turn’, and mine was a James Stewart impersonation. Tom and Bob must’ve liked it because when they approached me to do the show they asked if I could do any others. I said my best were Max and Tommy Cooper, and they went for Max as they thought they could do a good sketch around it!
“It was great fun, but I’m not at all sure about doing it again in a hurry! Compared to singing on stage it was a lot more nerve-wracking so I don’t think I’ll be changing my career!”
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Tommy and Bobby go to the disco
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